Single parent childminding

[Emma Dawe]

Hi all,

My first tread so please be kind.
I'm looking to start childminding as I have a 2 yr old son who will be starting preschool in Jan and I'm worried if I stay at my current job I will struggle to accommodate all the preschool holidays.
My biggest concern is if I can afford to let go of my 16 hour well paid job and be able to mange with just the childminding income?? I'm in rented an get some housing benefit and get working family and child tax credit. How do I find out what I'm entitled to? I don't know how many children I will have so unable to work out my income ect! It all a bit confusing :-/ hope someone can help or point me in the direction where I can find some help.
Thanks
Emma

[Rick]

Hi and welcome

I'm sure someone will come and answer your question in depth

Here is an explanation of how to register as a childminder in the meantime

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...ildminder.html

[k1rstie]

Hi Emma.


Welcome

Sadly childminding is not a quick fix, and as many childminders will tell you, it can take moments or months to fill your vacancies. I personally took many months to take on my first child. I was so disparate I did not.listen to my gut, and they were a nightmare!

Mike has given you a great link, or you can look at your local authority website for further advise.

Kirstie

[Kiddleywinks]

Agree with MTK and K1rtsie, research is the key as it can take months to get even 1 child, let alone more, so it definitely isn't a quick fix.

Is there a need for childminders in your area?
What other competition do you have? - Nurserys, after school clubs, other minders, pre schools etc in a 2/4/5 mile radius
What can you offer that no one else does (this is your Unique Selling Point -USP)
How to run a business - business link are good for advice

and this is a good site to give you an idea of the financials as you can do 'what if' scenarios
https://www.dwpe-services.direct.gov...e/portal/ba/lp


Good luck

[charlottenash]

From beginning courses and registration to first child was 7 months for me, and I got a child very quick when my certificate came.

[kellib]

I'm a single parent and I manage fine, I have 4 children on my books just now (did have 5 but one has just left). I also work term time only, I just make sure I put money aside to see us through the holidays.

[hannahemilie]

I am a single parent and am way better off than what I was on benefits. You will still get housing benefit and if you work 16 hours or more you can claim working tax credits and you'll still get child tax credits. Yes it might take you a while to set yourself up but if you could do that while still in your current job then that would be perfect! X

[hectors house]

May be a good idea to do all training courses while you are still working, advertise for children and hope that the first child can wait a month while you give notice at work or wants hours that fits in around your current job - you will find that some people want to start immediately but some people especially mums going back after maternity leave will start looking several months in advance. You may also find that once you are registered that people you know through toddler groups or your son's pre-school once he starts will ask you about childcare.
Goodluck and welcome to the forum.

[Emma Dawe]

Thanks all.

I'm not rushing in to it at all. Just trying to work everything out before I commit to it all.
I've done most of my training just 1st aid, then need to get registered. I've done lots of research so kind of know what I'm doing, just trying to find info on the money side is hard.
The single parents, where did you get advice from? Thinking maybe I need to talk to CAB or Job centre??
I already have people interested in my service so I know I will have at least one day with two children.

[Goatgirl]

Hi ,
I started childminding as a single parent. Twice! Once when my children were very little, then again when youngest was 16.
For purposes of housing benefit etc, your income is calculated at 1/3 of what you are actually paid by clients. You just need to be working at least a 16 hour week to ensure you can claim tax credits.

It can take a while to get registered: months! So it would be a good idea to do the registration while still in your current job as suggested by hectors house.

The only way to get started with that is to contact your Local Authority to find out how to go about it. There is usually a meeting for interested parties and you can find out then, when courses run from to get an idea of timescale.

I went from Income support to childminding and with no actual mindees coming my way I 'borrowed' my nephew for a pittance so that I could transfer to tax credits. I was better off straight away I didn't have him for the full 16 hours: I counted setting up and cleaning and paperwork time as work too, which was fine by the tax credits people. They said as long as I could justify and demonstrate that amount of time I could count it. Got my first real client after about 6 months, then a steady trickle of new ones. Now that I am busy and established I seem to get quite alot of enquiries, but it has taken me a long time to be this busy.

It can be very unreliable work as in parents lives change and you can be full one minute then empty the next, as parents move, are made redundant, children leave to go to preschools you don't go to etc, but if you know you can survive short periods on minimum income, all you need is the 16 hours to claim benefits to tide you over.

I'd say its definitely worth looking into

Good luck with it all, hope it works out for you. Let us know how you get on

[Goatgirl]

Thanks all.

I'm not rushing in to it at all. Just trying to work everything out before I commit to it all.
I've done most of my training just 1st aid, then need to get registered. I've done lots of research so kind of know what I'm doing, just trying to find info on the money side is hard.
The single parents, where did you get advice from? Thinking maybe I need to talk to CAB or Job centre??
I already have people interested in my service so I know I will have at least one day with two children.

I got advice from an independent legal information charity locally. Both housing benefit and income support 'advisers' gave me blatantly false advice. In your shoes I would go to citizens advice if there's not an independent service/charity around. I'm sure there's a way to look them up, not sure how though....

Hope you find out all the info you need